Brazing and also soldering processes are well suited to connect two metallic components with each other. For the purposes of the following description and claims, brazing and soldering will be collectively referred to as brazing, but it should be understood that the present invention is intended to include both brazing and soldering processes. Unlike in welding processes, in brazing and soldering processes heat is supplied not to a closely limited surface area but, rather, either to the entire component when a furnace brazing method is made use of, or in the region of the brazing point when an induction brazing method is made use of. In this case, the induction of an electric current in the components to be connected generates heat in the component itself, which heats the component such that the brazing material arranged there will fuse.
There is the drawback, however, that for producing an optimum brazed joint, the gaps present between the two components to be connected must be very small. This makes the production of, more particularly, a T-joint complicated, in which a pipe end having an opening is connected in a second component.
It is the object of the present invention to simplify the production of a brazed joint such that with regard to the components to be brazed to one another, no close tolerances need to be adhered to.